Montana Mountain Trip Report 03-18-2012
Author: Trent Shue
John (jjgarci) stepped up and organized this trail, though his first choice was to run Bulldog Canyon. I don’t think he has any regrets that we ran Montana Mountain instead. I believe there were 16 rigs on this run, all various generations of Land Cruisers. Nobody seemed to know for sure what the final count was. The line of cruisers was so long we had trouble finding places where we could get them all in a single picture. We may have lost one or two on the trail during the near whiteout conditions we experienced at the top. Don’t know for sure. We’ll have to do a follow-up run in the near future, in fair weather, to check for lost souls. Land Cruiser Phil led the trip and was accompanied by his lovely wife Jennifer, who remained in hidden in her 80 for the entire trip. Medtro, as usual, was the club photographer, but lots of folks were snapping pictures all day. I hope they post them up. Medtro also took the responsibility to take the tail-gunner position.
We aired down in a mud hole lot alongside the railroad tracks, just off Queen Valley Road. The mild drizzle didn’t dampen our spirits. We could see the snow level was pretty low on the mountains as we did our approach. The new guys quickly learned that the first bit of equipment that they needed to do any serious four wheeling was quick airdown tools. We got everybody aired down and were not too quickly on our way. With 16 drivers and numerous passengers it’s hard to be in a hurry to do anything. And why hurry, you might miss the moment. We all tuned our CB radios to Channel 4 and of course the bullshit started flying. Overall, they group didn’t give AZRider too much shit, though we did miss the dry witty humor of Tools on this run.
We ascended the Montana Mountain loop trail in a counterclockwise direction. The start of the trail was relatively muddy and the terrain had a mild gentle slope. As we gained elevation, we experienced a gradual buildup of snow on the side of the trail and eventually on the trail. Land Cruiser Phil and Mike OB1 provided the necessary guidance to the group over the CB radios for negotiating the many hairpin turns in muddy, snowy conditions. Thankfully, it never got icy. Mike OB1 has lots of experience in the snow. I heard someone say that he is part Eskimo. Mike didn’t share with us the Eskimo name for this kind of snow, though he did say that it was like a spring day in Alaska. He was not too concerned. It was just another spring day in Arizona. Wearing shorts and flip-flops.and using his best penmanship, Phil wrote his initials in the snow, so I guess it was LCP snow. I don’t know what that is in Eskimo. Phil was very attentive to the newbies, checking with them frequently as we got into increasingly more difficult spots on the trail. They all did well and they quickly learned that their Land Cruisers can handle just about anything that they are willing to throw in their path.
The snow alongside the trail started sticking at about 3500’. As we neared the top the hairpins came with increasing frequency and the trail was turning from mud to snow. At the same time the snow was starting to come down harder and the wind was picking up pretty good as well. As we ascended, we were getting to a pretty good elevation, but there really wasn’t much to see because the visibility was only about 100 yards at that time. I’m looking forward to doing this run on a clear day. By the time we got to the top 5400’ there was almost 6 inches of snow on the trail. Then came the downhill trek to the lunch spot. There was an air of concern in Phil’s voice as we started the downhill. There was not much brown to put a tire on. No false moves here. OB1 advised that we should all use low-range and stay off the brake pedal. We all heeded his advice and made it down without any incident. The new FJ Cruiser was having a little trouble getting accustomed to the A-Track system and keeping the RPMs down. With some coaching from Phil and Medtro, I think he eventually figured in out.
If I would have known that Saddletramp had brought so many sandwiches I would have skipped that pre-flight ritual. It was great to see Saddletramp on the trail coaching new member, LongDuck , on how not to tear up his old 80. The wind relented somewhat during lunch and the visibility improved a great deal. The kids that came along had a great time playing in the snow. The Arizona Trail runs right through the parking area where we had lunch. During lunch we were met by a group of about 4 hikers and 3 or 4 dogs all dressed in flannel, some with backpacks. The hikers had camped out on the trail that night and were surprised to wake up to the snow in the morning. I believe this would have classified as a 3 Dog Night, where One is the loneliest number. I’m sure the hikers fought over who got to sleep with a dog. They all looked grumpy, especially the dogs.
The road out was a quick descent and in no time we were out of the snow and back into the mud. As we dropped out of the clouds the view of the mountains was spectacular. The rain had subsided and there is a small hill where we stopped for a little “Play time”. It posed no real challenge for those who tried it. The road out was very scenic and the area looked to be worthy of a future campout. We bombed our way out to the wash and parked for the big air up, where the new members learned about the second piece of equipment required for serious 4-wheeling, a decent compressor. There are two decent ways to go, you can go cheap at Harbor Freight or spend the money on a small Puma the first time. Then again, you can save your money and just borrow someone else's Puma at the air up.
Before this run, I had not formally met AZRider, Shannon, who brought his wife and kids along. So, during the air up I went over introduced myself and as I shook his hand I said, “So you are the guy who everybody is always giving so much shit to. When I would read the forum posts I used to feel sorry for you until I noticed how you kept coming back for more.” All kidding aside, it was good to finally meet up with someone whose exploits are so legendary. I think AZRider and the family had a good time on this run.
When the air up was complete, we gathered the troops and Saddletramp took a few final group shots so he has something to remember us by. After that, we all hauled ass home to wash the mud off our rigs. Thanks to jjgarci for organizing this run. Murf was volunteered to do next month’s run.
Happy Trails,
Fumann
We aired down in a mud hole lot alongside the railroad tracks, just off Queen Valley Road. The mild drizzle didn’t dampen our spirits. We could see the snow level was pretty low on the mountains as we did our approach. The new guys quickly learned that the first bit of equipment that they needed to do any serious four wheeling was quick airdown tools. We got everybody aired down and were not too quickly on our way. With 16 drivers and numerous passengers it’s hard to be in a hurry to do anything. And why hurry, you might miss the moment. We all tuned our CB radios to Channel 4 and of course the bullshit started flying. Overall, they group didn’t give AZRider too much shit, though we did miss the dry witty humor of Tools on this run.
We ascended the Montana Mountain loop trail in a counterclockwise direction. The start of the trail was relatively muddy and the terrain had a mild gentle slope. As we gained elevation, we experienced a gradual buildup of snow on the side of the trail and eventually on the trail. Land Cruiser Phil and Mike OB1 provided the necessary guidance to the group over the CB radios for negotiating the many hairpin turns in muddy, snowy conditions. Thankfully, it never got icy. Mike OB1 has lots of experience in the snow. I heard someone say that he is part Eskimo. Mike didn’t share with us the Eskimo name for this kind of snow, though he did say that it was like a spring day in Alaska. He was not too concerned. It was just another spring day in Arizona. Wearing shorts and flip-flops.and using his best penmanship, Phil wrote his initials in the snow, so I guess it was LCP snow. I don’t know what that is in Eskimo. Phil was very attentive to the newbies, checking with them frequently as we got into increasingly more difficult spots on the trail. They all did well and they quickly learned that their Land Cruisers can handle just about anything that they are willing to throw in their path.
The snow alongside the trail started sticking at about 3500’. As we neared the top the hairpins came with increasing frequency and the trail was turning from mud to snow. At the same time the snow was starting to come down harder and the wind was picking up pretty good as well. As we ascended, we were getting to a pretty good elevation, but there really wasn’t much to see because the visibility was only about 100 yards at that time. I’m looking forward to doing this run on a clear day. By the time we got to the top 5400’ there was almost 6 inches of snow on the trail. Then came the downhill trek to the lunch spot. There was an air of concern in Phil’s voice as we started the downhill. There was not much brown to put a tire on. No false moves here. OB1 advised that we should all use low-range and stay off the brake pedal. We all heeded his advice and made it down without any incident. The new FJ Cruiser was having a little trouble getting accustomed to the A-Track system and keeping the RPMs down. With some coaching from Phil and Medtro, I think he eventually figured in out.
If I would have known that Saddletramp had brought so many sandwiches I would have skipped that pre-flight ritual. It was great to see Saddletramp on the trail coaching new member, LongDuck , on how not to tear up his old 80. The wind relented somewhat during lunch and the visibility improved a great deal. The kids that came along had a great time playing in the snow. The Arizona Trail runs right through the parking area where we had lunch. During lunch we were met by a group of about 4 hikers and 3 or 4 dogs all dressed in flannel, some with backpacks. The hikers had camped out on the trail that night and were surprised to wake up to the snow in the morning. I believe this would have classified as a 3 Dog Night, where One is the loneliest number. I’m sure the hikers fought over who got to sleep with a dog. They all looked grumpy, especially the dogs.
The road out was a quick descent and in no time we were out of the snow and back into the mud. As we dropped out of the clouds the view of the mountains was spectacular. The rain had subsided and there is a small hill where we stopped for a little “Play time”. It posed no real challenge for those who tried it. The road out was very scenic and the area looked to be worthy of a future campout. We bombed our way out to the wash and parked for the big air up, where the new members learned about the second piece of equipment required for serious 4-wheeling, a decent compressor. There are two decent ways to go, you can go cheap at Harbor Freight or spend the money on a small Puma the first time. Then again, you can save your money and just borrow someone else's Puma at the air up.
Before this run, I had not formally met AZRider, Shannon, who brought his wife and kids along. So, during the air up I went over introduced myself and as I shook his hand I said, “So you are the guy who everybody is always giving so much shit to. When I would read the forum posts I used to feel sorry for you until I noticed how you kept coming back for more.” All kidding aside, it was good to finally meet up with someone whose exploits are so legendary. I think AZRider and the family had a good time on this run.
When the air up was complete, we gathered the troops and Saddletramp took a few final group shots so he has something to remember us by. After that, we all hauled ass home to wash the mud off our rigs. Thanks to jjgarci for organizing this run. Murf was volunteered to do next month’s run.
Happy Trails,
Fumann
